Vengence and the Builder
by monbade
Summary: Takes place 97 years after the attack on the colonies, one man turned the devastated worlds around and began rebuilding after the cylons pulled out.


**Vengeance**

**& the**

**Rebuilder**

**New Picon Shipyard:**

**Battlestar **_**Vengeance**_**:**

Ninety-seven years after the premeditated murder of the colonies, the fleet stood ready to send out the first wave of ships to hunt down and destroy their enemies. No one knew why after a two year occupation the Cylons had pulled out. But with their withdraw, it allowed the survivors of several missed mining colonies to gather as many of the survivors they could and resettled them on Picon.

Over the planet Scorpio, the recaptured Scorpio shipyard was reactivated and several Battlestars that were docked during the attack and disabled were brought back online. The ships included two _Valkyrie_ and one _Mercury_ class Battlestars along with five gunstars. With a backbone of a small fleet, they set out to recover as many disabled ships and find as many survivors that they could.

The three point nine million survivors were rescued and they swore vengeance on the Cylons for their attack, and from that day forth, they formed the new colonial military. Forty Battlestars that had been blown into several large sections were recovered and rebuilt using a mobile repair base that was missed during the attack.

Hundreds of disabled vipers and raptors were recovered and their dead crewmen buried on one of Picon's moons alongside the crews of the destroyed Battlestars. The ships were staffed with the surviving military personal and their computer systems were gutted. New programs were written for their ships as well as new weapons. The Battlestars were rechristened with hundreds of muti-battery automated defense weapons to help defend themselves from attack.

Picon station was built using the mobile repair base and the as the base of the new station. Four years after the Cylons left, the first of a new series of Battlestars came online with the launching of the Colonial Battlestar Corman BG150. The supreme commander of the Colonial fleet named the new class the _Admiralty_ class. The ships were named after Admirals Corman, Cain, Adama (promoted to Admiral by Admiral Henry Haskin), Nagala, Hays, and Gummer. The Admiralty class were small Battlestars, carrying half the defensive weapons of a _Mercury_ class but twice the heavy weapons in quad mounted KEWS. Her air wings were limited to only two squadrons of vipers. With a crew of three thousand and one hundred marines, they were meant to be used as the heavy hitters in the fleet until the _Vengeance_ class came online.

Forced marriages were preformed to produce the next batch of children for the colonial fleet. Every woman was encouraged to produce at least three children, but more were welcome. The children were raised in crèches to help indoctrinate them into the military, scientific and medical fields that were desperately needed to be filled. Fields like the arts, music and non essential fields faded to the background. Not forgotten, but just left to wither until they were needed again.

Admiral Louise Haskin walked into the massive CIC of the new Battlestar and looked around at the thirty crew personal manning their stations. Her guards took up position behind her chair as she sat down.

With a glance to her right, she took the offered cup of coffee and took a sip. Setting the cup down, she said, "Status report."

"Ma'am, Picon shipyards reports they are ready to release us. Commander Owens says good luck and may the gods of war bring you victory," came from her left.

Louise looked at her communications officer and replied, "Nancy, tell Commander Owens, we thank him and that I'll bring him back a few souvenirs from the battle field. Help, disconnect all umbilical cables, and make sure all airlocks are sealed. All power transfer connections are to be severed in two minutes. I then want a full hull check for any leaks. I want a full ships status on all bunkers as well as the replicating plants."

The responding 'Yes, Ma'am's' came from several directions as Louise picked up the nearby digital clipboard and started scrolling through the reports.

"Admiral, all bunkers are full. All replicating plants and storage faculties are at one hundred percent. Fuel bunkers for the Tylium reactors are at one hundred percent. Landing bays report all vipers, shuttles, raptors, lifters and tankers are locked down," came the reports from different parts of the CIC.

"Very well. Helm, take us out at one tenth speed for two minutes, then once we have cleared the moors, boost us up to half speed. Com, send notice to the rest of the fleet to form up on us at point Vengeance," Louise ordered.

The might ship, twice the length of a _Nova_ class Battlestar left its berth and headed into space. Around the station, forty Battlestars, sixty Gunstars, ten carriers, and one hundred Faststar frigates pulled out of their docking posts and formed up with the new fleet command ship. Behind them, three dozen support ships from tankers to replenishment ships followed.

"Admiral, the fleet is forming up now. Grand Admiral Haskin sends the following. 'Good luck, good hunting, vengeance is yours!' and then he sends this taken from the flight recorder of Captain Isaac Hays, 'Gods in the Heavens and the Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. Let not the human race drift into the endless night. Let us be resurrected in your name and bring forth your mighty vengeance on our enemies. Take our innocent children to your homes and train them up to fight against tyranny that we have failed against. Let the enemy know, that we won't go quietly into the night. Let the survivors become our wrath of justice and let the Cylons know that they have awakened an enemy that will see their destruction. From the destruction of our civilization, let rise the fury of the dead smite them down. God of war and vengeance I beseech you to heed my prayer. Amen.' That's all he sends, any response?"

"Reply is the following. Vengeance is ours my lord, the fleet stands ready to smite the enemy!" Louise ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Com, send to fleet, all ships to jump to New Caprica to start the search," Louise ordered.

Around the bridge, the crew jumped to follow the orders given to them. Orders went out to the fleet and the FTL drives were powered up. In a blink of an eye, one by one the ships jumped until only the Vengeance was left and then it vanished.

1-*-*-1

**Picon Fleet Base:**

Grand Admiral Haskin sat in his hover chair and watched as his granddaughter's fleet vanished into FTL. "Good luck baby," he said as the last ship vanished.

Turning to the room, he issued his orders, "Ok everyone, first fleet is on the way. Second and third fleets are to be moved up to the guard position and time to start on building fleet four. What is the status of the guard buoys?"

"Sir, no detection of any contact on any of the buoys, however… Faststar Elyria reports finding three crippled freighters just past the former redline and request several salvage tugs to be sent to their location for recovery," replied his aide, Admiral Elaine Morrow.

"Elaine, tell the Elyria that we're dispatching three tugs and several frigates with carrier modules attached to their location for salvage. Also, notify Admiral Jane Nagala that she is to continue her sweep through the Ouranos asteroid belt. We need to finish clearing out those minefields they left…"

Elaine turned and looked at her boss and stood up as she saw him slumped over in his chair. Running to him, she pushed him back until he was sitting up as she shouted, "We need a medic. Sir, hold on the medics are coming."

John opened his eyes and looked at his adopted daughter of seventy years, "Elaine, it's ok. I can go join all my old friends. I have lived a long life. I saw the destruction of our worlds, the rebirth of them and now I have seen my vengeance go forth. I promote you to the rank of Grand Admiral. You know the vision, you know the mission, now it's your job to carry it out. My mission briefs are in my safe for you to use, good luck, and I love you," he said as he took a gasp and closed his eyes.

Tears ran down her face as she gently placed her hand against her adopted fathers face. "I will father. We shall be victorious," she said as she stood back to let the medics take him away.

"Elaine, I'm sorry for your loss," Rear Admiral Tony Mathews said as he watched his former boss being taken from the room.

"Thanks Tony, he was a good father to my sister and I. Did I ever tell you how he found us on that abandoned mining facility?" Elaine asked.

"Yes you did. It's amazing that any survivors were found there. Especially seven year old twins," Tony replied.

1-*-*-1

**Picon Moon Cemetery:**

**Three days later:**

Grand Admiral Elaine Morrow walked up to the podium in the giant atrium. "Thank you for coming. Today we're here to pay our respects to a brave and noble man. A man who brought us back from the brink of destruction to what we have now. A man who gave his all for the fleet that was shattered ninety-seven years ago. Captain Henry Haskin was in charge of a remote mobile repair base _Hawkins._ The _Hawkins_ was working on an old munitions depot that had suffered a meteor hit. Using his ship, he moved the depot to another location in the Hera Gas giant. Along with two old Faststars, he turned the station into a mini city while his ships raptors helped guide fleeing ships to his hideout. He rescued seventy-nine ships, ranging from tankers and freighters to several mining ships. In all twenty thousand survivors were rescued by the SAR Raptors of the fleet.

"One by one, disabled ships were guided to a new location where the _Hawkins_ or her heavy lifters would jump in, grab the ship and jump away. Three weeks after the attack, one of the raptors made a discovery. It was one of the battlefields where one of our fleets made a stand against the enemy. With raptors keeping guard, the _Hawkins_ was sent in to scour the battlefield. One of the first finds was the forward half of a Nova class Battlestar _Defender. Defender_ was crippled, her engine room vaporized from several direct hits. The only part left of the might ship was the bow her midsection and both her hangers which were full of vipers. Of the five thousand crewmembers of the ship, fifteen hundred were still alive and formed the backbone of the new colonial fleet.

"Captain Haskin dispatched all his heavy lifters to recover all the disabled vipers they could while he brought the Hawkins in and latched onto the remains of the defender. With the ship in the dry dock, he jumped away to their hidden base.

"Captain Haskin and his crew worked for days to modify the remains of the ship and attach it to the armory. When finished, the station had a permanent main defense battery and both hangers. They forged a giant pedestal and attached it to the top of the station and the bottom of the ship. This pedestal could turn the ship towards any threat that appeared. Where the main engines were was sealed up and automatic light KEW weapon mounts were installed to defend the back door.

"After the completion attaching the remains of the Battlestar to the station, Captain Haskin jumped back to the battle sight and recovered more crippled ships. Most of them were beyond repair, of the forty ships of BSG-12 only five Faststars and two Gunstars were rebuilt. The rest were stripped of usable parts, and melted down.

"For two years we worked and hid inside the gas pocket of the Hera Gas giant. We turned the armory into a giant home by attaching the ships of the fleet to the station. Hydroponic bays were built, factories and foundry's as well. We built a giant fish farm using a crippled Botanical Cruiser and their stock of fish. Captain Haskin was thrilled when the first fish were harvested eight months after the completion. Growing up on Aquaria, he was raised on fish and missed it very much. So from that day forward, we hid, we built and we waited for a sign.

"Then one day that sign came to us, a long range raptor patrol to Caprica watched as the Cylons left our home worlds. Did we come out? Now, we waited and watched for another six weeks just to be safe or what we prayed would be safe," Elaine said as she changed the paper in front of her and looked at her notes.

Taking a sip of water, she continued, "Captain Haskin waited and watched for any sign of the enemy and when none were seen, he started sending out more raptors, shuttles and lifters. The teams found evidence of genocide, torture and medical studies done by the Cylons on several worlds. Thousands were found executed in several POW camps; it was a grisly discovery that bothered Henry until he died. We buried nineteen thousand people in two weeks time in a mass grave. We still have no idea who they were. We also found thousands of other mass graves on our planets. Of a population of fifty billion, only three point nine million were rescued. Many of them children from the age of nine and seventeen who did in the destroyed cities, the mountains and caves.

"Henry's next mission was the mass rescue of the survivors. Survivors were found in groups of three to ten people scattered over all the known worlds of man. In space, some of us were found in crippled mining stations, and disabled ships. Injured, lost, hungry we were found, healed and fed. This was the man who we pay tribute today to. He brought them to Picon where the Cylons had completed the clean up and rebuilding of the military bases. These bases gave us a jump point to reach for the stars again. So bring the Hawkins out, he recovered as many crippled ships from around the colonies and started repairing them. Of the forty Battlestars recovered over the next three years, twenty-five of them were put back in operational condition. The remaining fifteen were stripped, and melted down. Nineteen hundred disabled vipers were recovered, refurnished and put back in operation. Our first graduation class of New Picon Military academy saw the addition of seven thousand colonial warriors. Of then, two thousand were pilots.

"For the next ninety years, we built, we grew and we prepared. The fleet now stands at five hundred Battlestars, ranging from light _Admiralty _Battlestars to the _Vengeance _class along with the thousands of support ships. I know you younger generation has had it light compared to the survivors and the first two generations of children, but as my father says. We were complicit, and look what it cost us. Almost total the total annihilation of our species, which will never happen again because we know what the Cylons are like. VENGENCE WILL BE OURS!"

"VENGENCE WILL BE OURS!" came the cry from the ten thousand people attending the memorial.

Elaine smiled as she looked out over sea of blue, green and white uniforms. Holding up her hand in a fist she then pointed to the giant screen, and shouted, "I GIVE YOU THE BATTLESTAR _GRAND ADMIRAL HENRY HASKIN_ SET TO BE LAUNCHED IN ONE MONTH! THE DUTY ROUSTER IS BY INVITATION ONLY. SHE WILL BE THE FLEET COMMAND SHIP OF THE HOME GUARD. LET ALL WHO DARE TO AND TRY TO ATTACK US FALL UNDER HER MIGHT GUNS! VENGENCE WILL BE OURS!"

Elaine watched the chant grow, and then waved her hand to cut the image and silence the crowd, "Thank you for coming. May the gods watch over you and let us strive to wipe out the infestation know as Cylons."

Elaine turned and walked off the stage, heading for the rear door as a guard detail moved to the coffin containing the body of the rebuilder.

_**Unedited**_


End file.
